Overzealous fans seek ways into park Bleacher seat offered for $350

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BOSTON – Jaime Bess could only watch the Diamondvision screen, listen to the crowd roar, smell the Fenway franks and sausages cooking, and wonder what it’s like to be on the inside as she stood outside Fenway Park’s Gate E and peered through the open archway.

There was no mistaking the look on the 23-year-old Northeastern University law student’s face. She wanted to be one of the fortunate 34,679 souls crammed into Major League Baseball’s oldest and smallest ballpark to watch the Boston Red Sox 2005 season home opener Monday afternoon.

It was bad enough the hated New York Yankees were in town, but throw in the fact the Sox were unfurling their long-awaited World Series championship banner AND presenting the players with their long-anticipated World Series rings. Well, it was almost enough to make even a relative newcomer to Red Sox fan-dom cry.

“I’m going to law school, so I’m pretty poor,” the 23-year-old Sandwich, Mass., native lamented. “I kept walking around, looking at the ground, hoping somebody might have dropped a ticket, but all I found was this baggage tag.”

Bess was far from alone. By several estimates provided by policemen stationed around Fenway Park, as many as 40,000 people were walking around wishing the same thing as Bess. Adam Levine, a political science major at the University of Miami and Fort Lauderdale resident, was one of them.

“I flew up here a couple days ago to come see the Sox,” said Levine, who inherited his love for the Sox from parents Alan and Joann – both Massachusetts natives. “We’ve been looking for tickets. One guy wanted $350 for a bleacher seat and another guy wanted a grand apiece for grandstand seats.”

Sound like a rip-off? Well, it could be worse. One Boston policeman said one ticket scalper was taken to the cleaners himself when someone paid him $2,000 in counterfeit $100 bills for two grandstand seats.

“I got ripped off at the ALCS (American League Championship Series) last year,” said Levine. “I was going to pay $100 apiece for tickets today. I paid $75 for my fake ALCS ones.”

Levine not only got a deal, the gate agent who caught the fake tickets gave Levine a break and let him in, although he had to stand.

Most people unfortunate enough to be caught with counterfeits Monday weren’t so lucky. Red Sox security attendee Mike Kandrotas, a lifelong Sox fan from Lowell, said two people tried to get in through his gate with counterfeits. They not only were turned away, they have to face charges.

People were trying anything to get through the wrought iron gates coated with flaking green paint.

“A guy with a cane and a limp tried to get through by saying he was a secret agent,” Kandrotas said while rolling his eyes.

Another man in his 20s tried to get through the turnstiles with a ticket from the 2004 season. He made it through, but was stopped by the gate agent and escorted outside.

Fortunately, overzealous fans were about the worst public officials had to deal with.

“We expected a large crowd, but this might be even more than we even thought would be here today. A lot of people weren’t working, evidently,” said deputy superintendent Tom Lee of the Boston Police Department. “It’s the first time since 1918, so we wanted to be prepared and we weren’t sure, so we had a lot more units than you can even see here.”

Lee, who is the commander of special operations for the city of Boston and the overseer of the mounted and motorcycle policemen on duty near Fenway, said everyone in blue was on duty Monday.

“We don’t release the exact number of officers,” said Lee, a Sox fan since the early 1980s. “We have 65 assigned inside the park, but we don’t say how many outside. Let’s just say a lot of people didn’t get sick days or off days today.”

The same can’t be said for many of the fans milling around the bustling ballpark.

Maryanne Bergeron of Dorchester took the day off as an office manager for Green Beacon Solutions and a waitress at Jasper White’s Summer Shack and went to the park with friends.

“I expected a ton of people to take the day off. It kind of [stinks] because next Monday is Boston Marathon day and I want to take that day off, too, but I don’t think my boss is going to like that. Then again, he’s at the game right now, so he [stinks], too,” she said with a laugh.

One of Bergeron’s friends had an “in” with Sox tickets, but the connection fell through.

“We got down here about 11 and found out around 1 that we wouldn’t be able to go in,” Bergeron said, the disappointment obvious in her face. “We did get into a private party with the bigwig people at the Game On [restaurant] opening.

Dana Van Fleet couldn’t afford to take the day off. As one of the owners of the Cask and Flagon restaurant and bar, right across the street from the park, Fleet was putting in a 21-hour day.

“This is my 16th opening day, but my family’s been here for 36 years,” said Fleet, a lifelong Sox fan from Norfolk, Mass. “Every opening day is exciting, but this one with the rings, the trophy, the banner, and the excitement everybody has – [it’s] one notch higher than it always is.”

Bess was also caught up in the moment. A high school athlete and soccer player as a college undergrad, she never really gave the Sox or the New England Patriots much thought until the last couple of years.

The Bryant College grad, who was caught up in her friends’ excitement for both teams’ Super Bowl and World Series runs, is now trying to make up for lost time. She may not have gotten into Fenway on Monday, but she’s determined to do so before the end of the season.

“I’ve never been to a game before, so that’s my goal for the year is to go to a game,” she said. “The first time I got hooked was when we came down here one night during a game and the crowd just roared up and I was like ‘Oooohhhh, I really want to go in there.’ Sometimes I can hear the crowd in my room at college.”

It’s obvious Bess has been irrevocably smitten with the Sox. Before Monday, she’d never missed anything to go to a sporting event.

“I had to miss a class, but it’s worth it. It’s historical,” she said.

Unfortunately, even Bess’ little slice of heaven didn’t last very long as a Red Sox official closed the gate and covered the street level opening she was peering through, cutting off her view of the crowd, the scoreboard, and the food.